5 TOP FAT LOSS MYTHS
The
problem with myths fat loss is that not only are they often wrong and give false hope,
but they also waste your time.
There are so many fat loss myths out
there in "exercise-land".
After all, by now you've probably heard
that if you don't do 60-minutes of cardio in
your fat burning zone on an empty stomach while Venus is in line with Jupiter,
you'll never burn fat.
The problem with myths is that not only
are they wrong and give false hope to millions of people trying to lose weight,
but they also waste your time and mental effort.
I have also seen these myths used as
justification for cheating on
a diet, watching countless men and women justify their "treats"
because they believe they are on some type of magical exercise program or
nutrition plan.
I could go on for days about fitness
myths, but I cut my list from 30 down to the Top 5 Fat Loss Workout Myths
today. I'll save the other 25 for future newsletters.
MYTH 1: YOU HAVE TO DO CARDIO
FIRST THING IN THE MORNING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH TO BURN FAT LOSS
Relax. You don't have to hop on the treadmill at 4:30am every morning. Let's allow common sense to dictate when and how you exercise.
If you want to work out first thing in
the morning, and I know that is the best time for many TT readers, by all
means, go ahead and do it. There's nothing magical about this time - although
it is often the only time many of day many people have to themselves.
We need to think "outside of the
hour" of exercise and realize that calorie burning and fat burning goes on
for 24-hours. Forget about the theories and look at the big picture.
It doesn't matter when you exercise - as
long as you exercise intensely and consistently. Focus on relatively
high-intensity workouts to increase your metabolism for
as many hours after exercise as possible. That is best done with interval training and
resistance training.
MYTH 2: YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR
CARDIO IN YOUR "FAT BURNING ZONE"
Again, nonsense.
While you might burn a larger proportion
of total calories as fat when you exercise in your fat burning zone, you burn
fewer calories overall by exercising at such a low intensity.
When you increase your workout intensity and
get out of your so-called "fat burning zone," you burn more total
calories, and as a result, more fat.
In addition, the "fat burning
zone" training doesn't put "turbulence" on your muscles... so
you don't burn many calories in the post-exercise time period. But with
interval training, you burn a significant amount of calories for hours after
training, and that leads to more fat loss.
I've worked with hundreds of people that
have avoided the fat burning zone while still managing to lose dozens of pounds
of fat. The "fat burning zone" is one of the biggest fitness myths of
all time.
MYTH 3: YOU HAVE TO DO CARDIO
FOR 20 MINUTES BEFORE YOU BURN FAT
When I hear this, I picture a
fat-burning switch in my body that turns on only after I've been doing
"cardio" for 20 minutes. But what if I only exercise for 19 minutes
and 59 seconds? Are you telling me that I won't have burned any fat? That's
ridiculous.
What if I did it on an empty stomach in
the morning and in my target heart rate zone?
(read that one sarcastically!)
I'll say it one last time. We need to be
more concerned with our 24-hour metabolism, not how
much fat or even how many calories are burned during the workout.
MYTH 4: DRINKING ICE COLD WATER
WILL HELP YOU BURN CALORIES AND LOSE FAT
Standing in line at the grocery store is
a great place to pick up the latest fat loss myths. You'll also find this one
all over the Internet.
This myth often comes along with some
calculations showing that by drinking 8 glasses of ice-cold water you
can burn 70 calories per day. I don't believe that actually holds true in real
life. Regardless, drinking cold water is not going to burn any more fat off
your body than drinking room temperature water.
Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe
you should drink 12 glasses of water per day, but the temperature of your water
won't have any effect on your overall fat loss success.
MYTH 5: ADDING ONE POUND OF
MUSCLE WILL BURN 50 EXTRA CALORIES EACH DAY
Uh-oh, now I'm cutting down a myth that supports my use of strength training in a fat loss program. But I have an obligation to set the record straight about this extremely prevalent myth (even though I just saw a big name fitness expert perpetuate this myth in a recent article!).
This myth sounds so good. Add a pound of
muscle, boost your metabolism 50 calories. That doesn't seem out of line at
all.
But do the math for a guy that puts on
30 pounds of muscle. Does his metabolism really increase by 1500 calories?
Absolutely not. For an average guy, that would require his resting metabolism
to increase from 2500 calories to 4000 calories per day. How would he be able
to keep any of that muscle with a metabolism like that? He'd have to eat like a
pig forever.
So when you look at the big picture, you
can see this little myth start to fall apart. That's not to say you should stop
your strength training, but just don't use this myth as an excuse to cheat on
your diet.
BONUS MYTH: NEGATIVE CALORIE
FOODS CAUSE YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT
According to the "experts," a negative calorie food requires more energy to digest than it provides you when you eat it. And included in the negative calorie food list are apples and bananas.
So by this logic, I would actually
starve to death if I had nothing to eat but apples (because I would have a net
energy loss from eating a so-called "negative calorie" food).
There is no such thing as a negative
calorie food. It's a shame that people are out there promoting this stuff, and
it's too bad that so many people fall for it. Remember the old phrase,
Instead, let the common sense fat loss
principles apply. It's going to take consistent effort, working hard at your
workouts and with your nutrition to get the results you want.